No Further Court Monitoring Of CBI Probe Into Killing Of Rationalist Dabholkar: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday discontinued the court monitoring into the probe being carried out by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in 2013. Dabholkar (67), founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, was shot dead by two persons, allegedly linked to the radical outfit Sanatan Sanstha, while he was on a morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013. The HC was monitoring the probe since 2014 when the case was handed over to the CBI for investigation with the agency submitting periodical reports to the court. 

A division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and P D Naik on Tuesday said no further monitoring was required in the probe and disposed of the petition filed by Narendra Dabholkar's daughter Mukta Dabholkar seeking for the court monitoring to continue.  In January this year, the CBI informed the HC that its probe into the case was complete and that the investigation officer has sent a closure report to its head office for approval. The CBI, which took over the case from Pune city police in 2014, has so far chargesheeted five accused in the case. The trial against them is on before a sessions court in Pune.

In 2014, the high court transferred the probe into the case to the CBI following a petition filed by social activist Ketan Tirodkar and later by Mukta Dabholkar.  Since then, the HC was monitoring the progress made in the case.